Ignition mechanism for internal-combustion engines.



H. R. VAN DEVI-INTER.

IGNITION MECHANISM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED 05c. I9. 1914.

1 ,267, 1 48. Patented May 21, 1918.

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H. R. VAN DEVENTER.

IGNITION MECHANTI SM FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES- APPLICATIDN FILED DEC. 19. I934 1,267,148. Patented May 21, 1918.

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6w 7 ammm UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE.

. HARRY RANDOLPH VAN DEVEN'I'ER, OF S'UMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO SPLITDOBF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NETVARK, NEW

JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Iletters ratent.

Patented May 21, 1918.

Application filed December 19, 1914. Serial No. 878,196.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY RANDOLPH VAN Dnvnnrnn, a citizen of the United States, residingat Sumter, in the county of Sumter and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lgniter- Mechanism for Internal- Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to ignition apparatus for internal combustion engines and has I for its purpose the provision of an igniter bracket upon which a magneto may be mounted, the magneto armature or rotor being oscillated by means of suitable mechanism carried entirely upon the igniter bracket. 1 4

A further object is to provide a bracket adapted to be mounted on an engine and carrying the engine igniter and the magneto and all of the operating means therefor, said means being so disposed in regard tothe engine push rod or other actuating device that the magneto may be removed without interfering in any way with. the operation of the igniter proper. This permits a suitable source of current to be connected to the igniter in the event of any trouble with the magneto as the operation of the igniter does not de end on *an springs or other parts hereto ore mounte upon and forming part of the magneto. A device of the foregoing description is shown in my pending application Serial No. 864,447. In said application I have shown and claimed a structure as just described,

and while the foregoing arrangement hasgiven excellent results, I have found it possible to increase the elliciency of same by a more compact arrangement of the various parts, the elimination of a separate bearing support for the trip lever, and the arran' ment of the magneto whereby the axis of t e armature shaft coincides with v.the axis of the shaft of the movable electrode in the igniter.

The foregoing points constitute the lead-.

ing features of improvement which will be described and claimed in this application, and ancillary features will suiliciently ap- .pear.,ifrom the detailed description hereafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings in wh.ich-

Figure l is a view looking down on. the top of an apparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2, a front view of the same with the magneto removed.

Fig. 3, a side view of Fig. 1.

Like figures of reference denote the same parts Wherever they are shown.

1 denotes a section of the wall of the engine cylinder, to permit the igniter body 2 to be shown. This carries the movable contact 3, and the fixed contact 4 constituting the usual make and break igniter mechanism. A flange 5 projects around the aperture in the cylinder. and projecting from this flange and preferably integral therewith are the arms 6 and 7 supporting studs 8 and 9, carrying rollers 10 and 1]., for the ends of springs 12 and 13. The remaining endsof said springs are carried on rollers suitably attached to the trip lever 14, which is loosely mounted on the shaft 15 of the movable electrode 3, it beingunderstood that the shaft forms a support for the trip lever 14 but does not move therewith. Trip lever 14 is provided with an igniter firing finger .16, a bifurcated finger 17, and a trip fin or 18, the latter adapted to be engaged the suitably connected to some moving part of the engine so that the rod'has a reciprocating motion over the pulle 20 which causes the inner end 21'of the ro to push inwardly against 18 until same is suddenly released and rides under it. now commonly used in connection with make and break igniters.

The shaft 15 of the movable contact 3 of the igniter carries at its outer end an arm 22 having suitable adjusting means such as the screw 23 whereby the relative position of 22 and the firing finger 16 on the trip' lever may be adjusted. This is occasioned by the necessity, when some magnetos are used, of having the igniter contacts closed, while, again when battery is used it is preferable to have the igniter contacts normally open.

A spring 24 or any other suitable means Sucha trip motion is may be employed to hold the contacts of the igniter together which is accomplished by securing one end of said spring to the flange 5 and the other end to the arm 22.

Projecting from the flange 5 and preferably integral therewith is a support 25 upon which may be mounted any suitable magneto 26. Upon the shaft of this magnote is a dog 27, a crank pin 28 on which is positioned between the fingers 17 of a bifurcated. trip' lever 14. A connection 29 1s made between the circuit. terminal 30 of the magneto and the binding post 31 on the outer end of the fixed contact 4 of the igniter, this fixed contact being suitably insulated from the igniter body 2 in the usual manner. The circuit is completed through the movable contacts 3 of the igniter, and frame work of the igniter mechanism and magneto.

Any suitable type of magneto may be used. Presuming the magneto to be of the alter nating current type, the armature or rotor of same is so set in relation to the dog 27 that when the dog is moved to the right, facing Fig. 1, and suddenly released, the peak of the current wave produced by the movement of the armature will occur at the same time the ignitcr points, in the cylinder, separate. This is accomplished by the push rod-19 engaging trip finger 18, thereby pushing trip lever-14 to the left until 18 trips under the end 21 of rod 11). When this occurs, spring 12 and 1 cause a quick return of the trip lever to its normal or central position, and fingers 1T engaging the lower end 28 of the dog 27 cause a correspondingly rapid movement of the dog, thereby actuating the magneto. At the proper time, in the cycle of operations the firing finger 16 strikes the lower end of the screw 23, which moves arm 2'. rigidly attached to shaft 15 thereby cam-lug a spark at the separation of the igniter contacts in the cylinder.

To prevent the operation of the igniter mechanism durin the idle strokes of the engine, the exhaust valve push rod which has a reciprocating motion. is provided with suitable means such as the pin :53 adapted to engage the arm 34 of a bell crank lever, the upper end 35 of which is 'positioned under push rod 19, so that when the exhaust rod is actuated, which occurs during the idle stroke of the piston on hitand-miss engines, or when the exhaust valve is held open by the governor, the bell (rank lever will occupy the position shown in dotted lines. thereby lifting the push rod 19 above linger 18, which prevents the operation of the igniter mechanism, the rod 19 reciprocating idly above finger 18 without engaging, same.

I also provide a shaft 36 upon which pulley 20 is ecccntrically mounted, moving the arm 37 to the rightor left (facing Fig. 2), the end 21 of ush rod 19 is raised or lowered in its relation to finger 18, thereby varying the time of ignition.

If desired, the magneto may be removed by merely nnbolting it from the support 25, and simultaneously removing the wire 29 from the binding post 31. Any other suitable source of current may then be connected to 0st 31 and the engine may be operated wit iout the magneto, as the parts that operate the igniter, and which eoact as between the same and the engine, are not disturbed'.

Referring to my ending application hereinbefore mentioned it w1ll be evident upon comparison with the foregoing deserip-' tion that one of the principal features of improvement herein disclosed consists of the mounting of the trip lever 14 directly upon the shaft 15, thereby eliminating a separate bearing and support for the trip lever which are shown in said prior application. This improvement also permits mounting the magneto so that theaxis of its shaft coincidos with the axis of the igniter shaft 15, making a n'iechanicallycorrect and compact arrangement.

Another important feature is the location of the spring arms in a plane passing through the axes of movement of both the rods 19 and 32. If placed in either a horizontal or vertical plane, they would interfore with the compact arrangement of the deem all such changes to be within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An ignition mechanism for internal combustion engines including in combina tion, an ignitcr having a movable electrode. a magneto having a rotor shaft in alinement with the axis of the movable electrode, an arm fixed to said shaft, an operating mechanism for the rotor, said mechanism comprising an arm mounted to turn about the axis of the movable electrode, means for operating said arm, and means for detachably connecting said arm to the arm on the rotor shaft.

2. An ignition mechanism for internal combustion engines including in combination, a sup orting bracket, an igniter having a mova le electrode, a magneto detachably connected to said bracket and having its roto shaft in alinement with the axis of the movable electrode, means mounted on the shaft supporting the movable electrode for operating the rotor of the magneto, said. operating means being detachably connected with the rotor shaft whereby the magneto may be removed from the supporting bracket as a unit.

3. The combination of a magneto, and operating mechanism therefor, said magneto comprisinga rotor shaft, and an arm fixed to 'said shaft, said mechanism comprising a shaft co-axial with said magneto shaft, an arm mounted on said mechanism shaft, said arm having a slot therein, said magneto arm passing into said slot, and means for operating said mechanism arm.

4. The combination of a magneto, a sup porting bracket on which said magneto is removably supported, and an operating mechanism for the magneto shaft supported independently of the magneto and including a rotatable member having its axis in alinement with the axis of the magneto shaft, a finger projecting from said member, an arm fixed to the memlJ-cr. resilient means connected to said member and supported independently of the magneto, a push rod for. operatively engaging said finger, and means for detachably connecting the arm on said rotatable member with the rotor shaft. 5. The combinai ion of a magneto having a rotor shaft, an arm fixed to said rotor shaft, an igniter including a movable electrode having its axis in alinement with the axis of the magneto shaft, a rotatable member mounted on the supporting shaft of the movable electrode, a finger projecting from said member, a push rod adapted to engage said finger for oscillating said rotatable member, resilient means connected. with said member and supported independently of the magneto, an arm fixed to said member. and means for detachably connecting said arm to the arm on the rotor shaft.

6. In combination with an internal combustion engine, a framework secured to the engine cylinder, a shaft bearing in the framework, a pair of electrodes within the cylinder one of which is mounted on said shaft, a magneto removably supported by the framework having the rotor thereof detachabl-y connected with said shaft, means connected with the shaft arranged to be engag d by an engine driven member to oscillate the shaft and rotor together with springs positively connected with said shaft arranged to quickly return the shaft and parts connected therewith to normal to effeet the operation of the electrodes and generate a current in the magneto when the shaft is oscillated by the engine driven member and released.

7. The combination of a magneto, a supporting bracket on which said magneto is removably supported, and an operating mechanism for the magneto shaft supported independentl of the magneto and including a rotatable member having its axis in alinement with the axis of the magneto shaft, a finger projecting from said member, an arm fixed to the member, resilient means connected to said member and supported independently of the magneto, and means for detachably connecting the arm on said rotatable member with the rotor shaft.

8. The combination of a magneto having a rotor shaft, an arm fixed to said rotor shaft, an igniter including a movable electrode having its axis in a inement with the axis of the magneto shaft, a rotatable member mounted on the supporting shaft of the movable electrode, a finger projecting from said member, resilient means con nected with said member and supported independently of the magneto, an arm fixed to said member, and means for detachably connecting said arm to the arm on the rotor shaft.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY RANDOLPH VAN DEVENTER.

Witnesses:

EDNA Ismm, E. H. Baum.

00,10: 0! this patent may be obtained for an cents each, by droning the commutator of Infants, Washington, 3 0." 

